Tackling Diabetes Through Design: How to Identify Sources of Emotion

Living with type 1 diabetes is perhaps one of the greatest design challenges I have ever encountered. Physical, emotional, mental and social needs are constantly in demand and often times at odds with each other (i.e. getting to the gym only to find your blood sugar is 280, sound familiar?!). I have applied some key principles of Design Thinking and Innovation Processes to my diabetes management and would love to share some dia-hacks with you!

“Every action has an equal reaction,” that’s just plain science and people with diabetes know this better than anyone! Carbs, exercise, stress and everything under the sun impacts your sugars. But do you take time to identify the situations, actions and people that impact your emotions?

Being aware of your emotions and reactions is as equally important for your health as counting carbs and calculating insulin needs! I leverage a Design Thinking framework to explore my diabetes-related issues and emotions to create solutions that work for me. When searching for solutions, you must first identify the challenges that drive your emotions to the extreme.

Keeping a visual timeline of your day will help you identify the trends in your actions and corresponding emotions. Here is how you do it!

The Timeline Task

At the end of each day, grab a piece of paper and draw a line down the center (or just print out the one below!) The start of the line represents the moment you wake up in the morning and the end of the line is the moment you put your head on the pillow at night.

Set the timer for 4 minutes and quickly write, sketch, label or diagram your day on the line. Be sure to highlight everything (where are you, who are you with, what are you’re doing).

Set the timer for another 4 minutes and label the emotions you felt at each point throughout your day.

Notice trends in the emotion name, time of day, and the people or places you notice are associated with particular emotions.

If you repeat the above exercise for three days you will be shocked at the trends you begin to notice! There are a few main benefits to this process:

Awareness – You will become aware of things in your life that trigger positive and negative emotions

Identification – You will identify points in your day where you can focus your efforts to reduce stress

Action – The observations above will allow you to see where you can implement slight changes to your day to see great benefits to your emotional health

You can start tonight! Grab a piece of paper and a marker to begin to get a handle on the emotional rollercoaster of our daily diabetes challenges! Remember, this a journey, not a destination. So, take a deep breath and enjoy the ride!

Added bonus: Do this with a friend, spouse or colleague, snap a pic and post using #diabeticdesign

Marc D. Hans is a Chicago-based Design Thinker who helps others think differently. From Fortune 500 companies to early stage startups, he is just as comfortable on stage at TED events as working the whiteboard during ideation sessions. His infectious energy and genuine drive to help others is matched by his relentless pursuit of success and creative outputs. Working with Marc is exciting, inspiring and is guaranteed to push you to your creative limits on day one!